while good relations after completion of works at the object mean that services of high quality were provided. The team purports to hedge a customer from any discomfort arising within construction works and involve him/her in the process of creation, give a chance to feel his/her involvement in interior creation.

The Tint Soul architectural design project of Liubov Polozhentseva is an individual approach to each Customer which leads to realization of customer’s dream about beautiful and comfortable home!

Interview with Lyubov Polozhentseva the founder of the project.

• Lyubov, tell me please why did you decide to start a career in architecture and design?

  Well, when I was nine I was fond of Leonardo Mendisabal, a character of “The rich also cry” TV soap opera, who was an architect. I was embraced with the image of a serious person with a huge project file who creates magnificent buildings as if out of air. The profession seemed fantastic to me and I began to dream of becoming an architect.

• Please tell us about your professional education.

  Education in a right architectural institution means six years of self-discipline and hard work, but only in these circumstances a person may really decide if his/her choice is serious. I understood at that time that I study a subject which I am ready to devote my life to: architecture became a part of my self-identification.

• How did you start as an architect?

  Joint work with Yury Lesman, the Hermitage archeologist, was my first employment. I was drawing archeological trenches and depicting cultural layers at the diggings performed in the yard of the world-famous museum. I may say that my architectural self was formed in extremely romantic conditions: I was walking in the basement vaults of the Winter Palace and had lunch in the museum cafeteria.

• Please tell us in detail about the base for such approach.

  I believe that color is a powerful tool of influence on a person which arranges space and affects feelings and emotions of people. That is why I carefully treat the choice of color range in a project I work on. It is important to see the final goal of the project, i.e. that the surroundings shall be in line with the way of life of a person, his/her character and comfort of feelings.

   

• What is the most important thing for the project?

  The most important thing is a correct ground. I mean planning solution, decoration of principal elements (floor, ceiling, walls) and engineering systems arrangement. Then you may change furniture, add decorative elements. But at the level of basic solution everything shall be of sound and long-lasting quality. For me the object shall be not only beautiful and comfortable but also easy to use. Subject to this criterion I think it over at the stage of design planning how the object will be cleaned up, serviced and repaired in case of disorders.

• What do you mean by individual approach to each project and Customer?

  I try to have a full picture of what is expected from the project already at the stage of project preparation. It is possible only when you study the prospective troubles, specific features of the object, think out internal engineering systems, select construction materials and prepare for furniture set, and all this at the very start of cooperation with the Customer.

• What do you think is the most important thing in your profession?

  I think it is an endless possibility of professional development. Each project means new knowledge, targets and expertise.

• How do you understand what the Customer would like to get?

  First you need to listen to people very carefully. Then you should understand their intentions. Everybody has their own wishes: somebody wants an apartment for presentation purposes, others wish it to be intimate and comfortable. It is just a question of understanding emotions and expectations from the project. And then when you implement the project you should constantly ask yourself whether you indeed follow the way chosen and if you realize Customer’s expectations correctly.

• A project of good quality means…

  A project of good quality is a result of your correct hearing of what customers say and of your attempt to realize all of his/her wishes taking into account such things as security, economic feasibility of solutions chosen subject to real circumstances, human engineering, technology of works, timing. It is a result of shaping the information received in a beautiful and comfortable form, which can be implemented with the Customer’s budget. Also I think about the prospective. I try to forecast the future life in the house I am designing, for example when children grow, and if the grown family will feel comfortable there.

• Do you remember your first project?

  My first independent work was the reconstruction project of Birth Centre No 2 at Furshtatskaya street. The project implied works on the building reconstruction including reinforcement of supporting framework, foundation pour, replacement of all the engineering systems, replanning and premise decoration. I spent much time at the construction plot where I had to resolve on-line a plenty of challenges arising out of new circumstances which could not be avoided in the premises of old dwelling stock. At the final and most pleasant stage of works I selected color solutions for wards and medical blocks and looked for a range of colors which would neither annoy the staff nor have negative impact on their work. The project took three years of my life but even now it is among the most important and loveliest for me. It was the project which gave birth to my special attention to the choice of color in the interior, which for me is directly linked to emotions of a person caused by surroundings designed by me.

• What are other important aspects of your profession?

  It is important to treat with great responsibility construction design documents the quality of preparation of which speaks of your experience. After several completed projects you understand certain aspects: constructors need detailed technical specifications, repairmen need to know how different materials are joint, how engineering and decoration are linked, how access to engineering centers which require regular servicing is provided. Maximum detailed technical documentation helps to avoid many prospective troubles at the stage of project development.

  I am convinced that the project of premise interior shall be not only a beautiful picture on the paper but a viable solution which is easy to implement. A specialist needs to think in categories of real things: where a certain sofa can be bought, what material it is made of and what size it will have.